Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 04.djvu/42
34 Southern Historical Society Papers.
Gen. Lee's Strength and Losses at Gettysburg.
By Col. AVILLIAM ALLAX.
[The following is in reply to a letter of the Secretary, enclosing a letter re- ceived from a distinguished foreign critic commenting on Col. Allan's review of Bates' Gettysburg. As the letter of our foreign correspondent was a pr'irnle one we suppress his name, though we do not think proper to withhold Col. Allan *te able and conclusive reply.]
McDoNOUGH SCHOOL, April 24th, 1877. MY DEAR DR.:
I regret that a press of engagements has pre- vented an earlier reply to your kind letter, enclosing that of
in regard to Bates' Gettysburg.
I hasten to express my acknowledgments to your corres- pondent for pointing out an error, into which I was led by the fact that Lieut.-Gen. A. P. Hill's report had not been published at the date of my strictures on Dr. Bates' book. In those strictures the Confederate loss at Gettysburg was estimated at not over 21,000 men. The loss actually was:
In Longstreet's corps (see his report in the Southern Magazine, April, 1874), including the losses at Funkstown and Williamsport on the 6th and 10th of July 7,059
In E well's corps (see E well's report in Southern Magazine, June, 1873),
while north of the Potomac G,087
In Hill's corps (see Hill's report in Southern Historical Papers, Nov.,
1876), including his loss of 5DO at the recrossing of the Potomac 8,982
Total in the three corps 22,728
This was the entire loss, except that in the cavalry. As but a small portion of the Confederate cavalry was engaged at Gettysburg, and that not severely, 100 or 200 added to the above will cover the entire Confederate loss during the battle and the subsequent retreat to the Potomac. Hence the state- ment should have been, that the "Confederate loss did not exceed 23,000 men." My error was in underestimating Hill's
